According to the aides, however, the VA said it could not make retroactive payments without auditing its previous education claims, which it said would delay future claims. The aides asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

But VA officials told congressional staffers in a telephone call on Wednesday morning that once the system is made right next year, they will not make retroactive payments to those who were underpaid because of the housing miscalculations.

"They are essentially going to ignore the law and say that that change only goes forward from December 2019," one aide told NBC News.

The reason the VA decided that it would not make the retroactive payments is because it would have to audit all its previous education claims prior to December 2019, meaning the VA would potentially have to inspect 2 million claims, the aide said.

VA officials said this could cause further delays in processing future claims, according to the aides, an issue that caused some veterans to suffer earlier this year.

While this decision could mean the agency is flouting the law because it would not provide the correct amount of money to student veterans as required by two sections of the Forever GI Bill, the VA told the congressional staffers that they have a legal justification that would allow them to move forward with this decision.

They did not share that justification, however.

Related

When asked for comment, a VA spokesman did not address the issue directly. Instead he reiterated that the agency would delay paying housing allowances in accordance with the new Forever GI Bill until the spring term of 2020 and instead pay housing allowances based on Department of Defense's older Basic Housing Allowance rates.

Attempting to implement the law would put “an enormous administrative burden for schools in which some 35,000 certifying officials would have to track retroactively and re-certify hundreds of thousands of enrollment documents,” Curtis Cashour, the VA spokesman, said over email.

Cashour also said that students who were overpaid because of the law’s changes or because of issues in implementing the law “will not be held liable for the debt.”

But he did not comment on those who were underpaid and rampant confusion continues to surround the issue, as it is unknown how many students have been underpaid thus far, how many more could be underpaid because of the changes to the law and how much money these veterans are owed.

Congressional aides described the situation as “frustrating.” One, who commented on the shifting answers and constant confusion stemming from VA, asked, “I mean, am I taking crazy pills?”

Under Secretary for Benefits Paul Lawrence is scheduled to testify Thursday morning before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

One of the committee aides said that members of Congress will attempt to clear this issue up before they move forward with the hearing.

“They need to figure it out,” the aide said.

Phil McCausland

Phil McCausland is an NBC News reporter focused on the rural-urban divide.